Apple Shampoo
by ShindaHotaru
Summary: On one of his visits to Mt. Silver, Green finds out about something Red tried to keep secret. Originalshipping hints.


A chilly breeze embraced his body, flying around him like a line of icy dancers. His mind wandered off, visualizing the abstract imagery. He lost himself for a moment in the swinging and rhythmic turns of the mute dancers, suddenly longing to join them and ease off the weight on his shoulders. The very thought of what was waiting for him at home made his stomach churn, so he gave into the wind and closed his eyes. Each step farther away from his house helped him loosen up and by now he was completely free of anything.

The cry of Moltres broke into his daze of dancing couples and the music playing in his head, he instantly snapped out of his daydream and wrapped his coat tighter around his body. What had been a soothing breeze was now trying to sneak into his clothes and shove its sharp claws into his sensitive skin. In all these years he had climbed up this mountain, he had never gotten used to the deathly coldness of its summit. Still, he came up here every week, sometimes even twice or thrice a week, he barely noticed the days he stayed down in the valley.

With a shook of his head, the Viridian gym leader resumed his journey to the highest cave of Mt. Silver. It was a Thursday, probably around lunch time. His bag was heavy with food and clutter, his throat was dry and his mouth full with saliva. As soon as he reached the cave, he would cook something for them and most likely go to take a nap. It was stupid to climb a mountain just to take a nap and climb it down again. But the naps on Mt. Silver were the only times he could really take a rest unlike the sleepless nights down in his own bed. Maybe it was the unpolluted air, the purity of the environment that made it easy for him to fall asleep. Since he had moved away from Pallet Town, he was trouble sleeping, no methods he had tried, no meds the doctor had ordered him to take could help his problem. There was a guess by some people it was because of his packed schedule of research works and the gym, some suggested it was the city itself that robbed him of his sleep. His idea was simple: He was lonely.

The sound of a shower echoed off the cave's walls as Green entered the chamber his friend resided in. Wondering what could cause this noise, he tip-toed around the cave until he found the source. Hidden behind half-wall sat a boy, bent over so his head was facing the uneven ground beneath his feet. Next to him was a Venysaur, its vine whips in the process of placing a bucket back onto the ground. And opposite of the boy was a yellow mouse on a rock, massaging shampoo into the boy's hair. The gym leader couldn't believe his eyes. Pikachu was washing Red's hair? Red had never really cared about such things. Not that he didn't clean his body at all, he bathed in the hot springs on the other side of the mountain regularly but that was about it. Green had already regretted to bring him any shampoo at all since the champion wouldn't use them anyway.

Obviously, he had been wrong. Chuckling, he walked over to the little kitchen-like area to put down his bag before he returned to the "bathroom". Useless to be quiet, he figured, at least Pikachu had already noticed his presence, so he simply stepped closer to them and leaned against the boulder the electric rat was standing on. He nodded his head to greet his trainer's friend with a smile and continued singing a song in his pika speech. "Chaa cha chaaa, pi pi chaaahaaahaa, chu pika..." Venysaur joined in and hummed along, smiling happily in the process. Green knew that Red understood perfectly well what they were singing about which made Green a little but jealous.

When Pika thought the shampoo was everywhere in his trainer's black hair, he ordered his companion Saur to empty another bucket of water on Red's head. From what Green learned, the two Pokémon were pretty skilled at washing their trainer's hair: After Pika had shampooed Red's hair, Saur grabbed one of the buckets with his vine whip and held it above his trainer's head but didn't empty all of its content on the Pokémon master's hair. Instead, he wrapped one whip around the bucket and turned it a little so a small stream of water was falling down on Red's hair, so Pika was able to ruffle through the black strands in order to wash away all of the shampoo. There was no doubt how smart Red's Pokémon were, Green had witnessed this many times already; but never anything like this, not even close.

"Pikaaa," the yellow Pokémon announced when he was finally done. Saur dropped a towel on Red's head whose owner sat up and started to dry off his mane of hair. His head was still bent over, the towel was covering most of his field of vision while his hands roamed over his head. The sight was too cute for Green to stay quiet and a weird sound left his lips, something between a chuckle and a giggle that made him feel retarded. He was aware of Red's eyes on him and clapped one hand over his mouth, his cheeks getting a soft red color.

The champion lowered his gaze again and dropped his arms. Confused by the reaction, Green tilted his head so he was able to glimpse at Red's face. What he saw there, caught him off-guard for a second, the next he thought his eyes had betrayed him. In order to find it out, Green softly gripped onto the other trainer's chin and made him look up, making his face visible. "You are... blushing?"

With his cheeks gaining a deeper red, the older boy looked away, too ashamed to face his friend. "Are you... wait, you didn't want me to find out that you use my shampoo?" Green got his answer when Red raised his hand to scratch his ear. That was the sign of nervousness and sometimes even anxiety; the young researcher knew his best friend too well. "Red, what's so wrong about using any shampoo? You didn't have to make it a secret!" A huge chuckle covered Green's face, the sheer fact of Red had done was making his heart beat a little faster.

"It's not a big deal...," Red whispered, as his voice was never louder. He looked into his friend's eyes, meeting a smile there that made his insides warm up. Though he would never admit it -and that was why he had kept the shampoo thingy secret-, he craved for Green's presence and his smiles. Years ago, when they met, it was himself to be the cheerful, easy-going one, the one to gain a stern look from the younger trainer. But throughout the years, his heart had lost most of its abilities to feel certain things and handle feelings and so Green had taken the role as the one to cheer him up, to make his days brighter. And he never wanted the other to leave, hence he had figured he needed to do something on his looks from time to time. Green obviously wanted him clean and good-smelling, what other reason had he brought those lotions and shampoos for?

Green figured it was wise to give up on this subject. His smile faded and he lowered his gaze, feeling ridiculous at how he had reacted over a simple thing as that. They were silent for a while, the atmosphere grew tense and uncomfortable until it became unbearable to stay. "Maybe I should go and get my nap..." Green turned around and took a step towards the bed when Red's hand reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. Getting the hint, he turned back around and looked confused at his friend. "What is it?"

"Uhm..." The older trainer's voice was low and hoarse, almost too quiet to be heard. "The bed is big enough for two..." As soon as those voice were out of his mouth, he looked away, nervous at how his old rival would take it. When a second later, Green didn't say anything, Red let go of his hand and looked to the floor, regretting that he had opened his mouth at all. Right then, he felt lips on his cheek and a hand holding his. He heard Green whisper in his ear, "I think that's a good idea..."

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><p>Random idea my bff and I had when she dyed my hair for the cosplay. XD Thanks for reading! And the review or favorite whatever you choose to do. :) 3<p> 


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